An Industry-Defining Data Model for Low-Carbon Wastewater Investment Decisions
Challenge
Purpose Energy wanted to show potential customers that its anaerobic digestion (AD) system offered not only energy and waste management savings, but also a quantifiable carbon reduction advantage over other wastewater treatment technologies. Their prospective customers—including sustainability-focused European manufacturers operating facilities in North America—were seeking reliable carbon data to inform infrastructure investments.
To support its sales efforts, Purpose Energy needed a model that could calculate and compare the total carbon emissions of various treatment systems. The model had to be technology-agnostic, customizable, and capable of allocating emissions across all relevant GHG Protocol scopes (Scope 1, 2, 3, and biogenic). While other consultancies had turned down the project due to its complexity, TripleWin agreed to take it on knowing we had the in-house carbon and analytics expertise to build an industry-defining model.
Solutions Delivered
TripleWin developed the Wastewater Emissions Tracking (WWET) Model, which is capable of modeling up to four wastewater and food waste treatment systems side-by-side. The model captures emissions from every stage of the treatment process, including conveyance, electricity usage, and material outputs.
Key features of the WWET Model include:
- Side-by-side comparison of up to four treatment scenarios (including existing systems and three alternatives)
- Emissions allocation across Scopes 1, 2, 3, and biogenic categories
- Comparison of a wide range of systems, including:
- Aerobic treatments: fine bubble aeration, membrane bioreactors (MBR), aerated lagoons
- Mechanical separation systems: dissolved air flotation (DAF), centrifuge, gravity clarifiers
Anaerobic digestion - End-use options: landfill, composting, manure lagoons, land application, animal feed
- Publicly owned treatment works (POTW)
- User-customizable flow diagrams and treatment steps
- Calculations of total metric tons of CO2-equivalent (MT CO2e) emissions from gate to grave
- Built-in emissions factors, with the ability to adjust assumptions or input custom data
Project Learnings
Commercial use of the WWET Model has revealed the complexity and variability of emissions associated with different treatment configurations. Its modular design allows users to trace how emissions shift across scopes depending on technology choices and facility ownership.
Importantly, the model does not privilege Purpose Energy’s AD system by design. Its structure ensures fairness and neutrality, allowing users to make credible, data-informed comparisons between technologies. This transparency is central to the model’s credibility and usefulness within the waste management industry.
Client Outcomes
Purpose Energy immediately put the WWET Model to work. In one case, the company used the model to demonstrate to a major European food manufacturer the climate benefits of installing an on-site AD system at one of its North American facilities. The model revealed that the system alone could deliver carbon reductions exceeding the manufacturer’s public emissions targets. Based on these findings, the manufacturer signed a development contract with Purpose Energy and chose to own the system outright to capture Scope 1 carbon benefits for itself.
By enabling rapid, data-driven decision-making, the WWET Model gave Purpose Energy a competitive advantage. It remains in active use as a client-facing tool and internal resource for estimating carbon reductions across facility scenarios. TripleWin’s delivery of the WWET Model positioned Purpose Energy as a more credible and climate-savvy partner in an increasingly climate-prioritized industry.
Experts
TripleWin Advisory is a boutique corporate consultancy focused on circularity solutions for industry. TripleWin offers a suite of tools to support clients in charting a practical, circular and sustainable course for their business. These tools include:
- Carbon inventories and setting science-based and Net Zero carbon goals
- Materiality assessments and sustainability roadmaps
- Building circular business models supported by financial analysis
- Risk scenario models using the TCFD framework
- Workshops and courses to build employee agency and corporate competency
We work with leaders in the following industries: apparel, footwear & textiles; information technology; metals; beauty; food & beverage; healthcare; building construction; human resource management; and retail.
TripleWin Advisory is an approved CDP climate change consultancy Accredited Service Provider (ASP). We are woman-founded, owned and led; a public benefit company.
Purpose Energy is an organic waste solutions provider based in New Hampshire. The company designs and installs anaerobic digestion (AD) systems that convert pre-consumer food and beverage waste into three recoverable outputs: a soil amendment, clean water, and renewable natural gas. Their flagship technology, the Tribrid-Bioreactor, enables circularity across waste, water, and energy systems.
Headquarters:New Hampshire
Industry:
Wastewater treatment and renewable energy
Main Product:
Anaerobic digestion systems for food and beverage manufacturers
In their words
“TripleWin brought insight and clarity to a complicated environmental analysis and created powerful tools for evaluating emissions reductions. They are a trusted partner.”